General Kenobi: The Clone Wars Years
by ThatOne749
Summary: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has just been informed of his new rank: GAR General Obi-Wan Kenobi of the 212th. A Jedi does as the Council asks, but leading men to war, that ... does not sit well with him. Slight AU (I'm including cannon and 'Legends' stories as I go, and some minor changes to Kenobi's background to make him more like old wizard 'Ben' from the originals).
1. Chapter 1

Obi-Wan exhaled sharply. _General…_ he was a damn General in the 'Grand Army of the Republic'. Leading the men, he would never call them just _Clones_ as some other councillers - and even his own Padawan – did, it just served to further dehumanise them, in battle, no… into _war_.

He was not a general. Well, he had some experience, Melida/Daan, the Stark Hyperspace War, that extended mission to Mandalore, his friendship with Scogar and his mercenary clan, and a few dozen other circumstances where he, as a Padawan or newly minted Knight (although without Anakin in some missions, as _Force knows_ he needed to catch up on some more basic studies early on) would observe or take part in skirmishes or battles. But strategy of relatively small battles and planning a war was like comparing an initiate to a Master. Yes they were both classified as the same thing, (War and Jedi res[e), and broadly, very broadly, possessed the same attributes. But that was where any similarities ended.

If he'd learnt anything while teaching Anakin, it was that what you _didn't_ know was not a failing, as long as you filled in those gaps as soon as possible. And preferably do it the next day if you were to keep the image of _Oh so perfect Jedi_... damn Council.

 _To the Archives it is then_ , mused the fresh 'General' Kenobi. The 'Battle of Light' may have occurred over a thousand years ago, but it didn't mean that nothing could be learned from its strategy. Tactics and logistics of the final battle or campaign leading up to it would be useful, and there was an old saying on Obi Wan's home planet Cyrene; _Knowledge is Power_ , no more so would this be true than in the upcoming war.

Moving through the highest echelons of the temple, where only Masters were permitted, and thankfully there were few of those, and even fewer used these parts of the temple as a … _brooding_ ground. Obi-Wan had… he had NOT almost fled from the council like some berated Padawan upon being told by said council that he was now a General. No, that was completely unlike one of the Old Guard…

Ah kriff it. The _aruetyc di'kut_ assigning him a Generalship over the ... 212th. With a commander … CC-2224. Those _facts_ took longer to come back to him than he would like to admit... yes it was most likely his disgust at being assigned numbers, cold and clinical, just like those men waiting in line for their helmets on kammino. That wouldn't do. He needed karking _names_ not _shabla_ alphanumeric designations, he _needed_ to remember and _know_ the men, not designations. And that was probably what was keeping him from accepting it.

It was funny how, whenever he became angry, he slipped into Mando'a. Well almost funny, every time he cursed in Mando'a, he remembered Satine, and meeting her in Melinda/Daan, a young bounty hunter, _extremely young._ Mandalorians considered 13 as a coming of age, but even then most would have considered 16 as a more appropriate time. Still, 10 years of messaging and the odd few days of running into each other, notwithstanding that year long … mission to mandalore to protect what turned out to be a corrupt senator, well… it left more than a few memories. And that promise…

He nearly froze, a single wayward thought brining everything to a halt, including locomotion. _Oh Force, we have an army of men, unpaid, growing up to expect nothing but commands and orders. And who will willingly forgo better sense than disobey_. – the horrific casualty toll on Geonosis stood testament to that. There was a _reason_ Jedi were connected closer to Diplomatic Corps rather than Military Corps on Coruscant. Although th eMilitary Corps on Coruscant was now replaced with the GAR. It would take some getting used to.

But those _men_ , not clones, never just clones, were effectively _slaves_ , and _Anakin._ That would be the single most hypocritical _mayen_ , or strangely the one time the order stuck by its principles of _not freeing slaves en masse._

Kriff it, this _oisk'la shabla hut'uun…_

Breathe Kenobi, he sternly commanded himself. He was a Master, one of the Old Guard, a specialist of Soresu. He did NOT get emotional or throw tantrums that may break walls (not _anymore_ atleast _)._

Anakin would hate it, Satine would hate _him_ , and he… Well, the universe had a terrific sense of irony. After so many years of Mandos killing Jedi, now the Jedi would lead millions upon millions of Mandos to their deaths. _Gra'tua indeed_ , he thought.

If Obi-Wan had paid any attention to where his feet were taking him, he may have chuckled. The small, attic was far to grand a term, but it was more than a _loft_. He usually came here early in his Mastership, to, well, _brood._

This was, well… if he needed a place to brood, this was it, but frankly, he needed to meet his men.


	2. Chapter 2

CC-2224 was not an emotional clone. He knew his job, _serve in the GAR, assist the Jedi, if need be, die for the Republic,_ it was simple and straightforward, that summarised the life of any trooper. Commandos were a different breed, but he didn't worry about them.

 _Fierfek, focus di'kut._ He mentally chastised himself, compartmentalizing that train of thought, and running his mind through how he could best present his company and battalion to the ranking officer.

They got Kenobi. The one Jedi most clones had ever seen before Geonosis. He was, if Ghost Company's side-activity of gathering intel was correct, not only a fighter in the Stark Hyperspace War, and a few dozen skirmishes, but the one Jedi who had ever killed a - Dark Jedi, was that it? Anyway, exact details didn't matter too much at this stage. Their Jedi was a _warrior_. That was something. No other Jedi had done that since there _were_ Jedi generals, around a thousand years ago.

So the 212th attack battalion would be at its peak. From drills to combat training, CC-2224 made his battalion _work_ for their 'rest period', so that when their General came, he wouldn't find them wanting.

"Trooper." He barked at one of the faltering members of – squad 3526 his memory supplied. "Extra five kilos in that _birgaan_. You don't fall behind without a reason."

"Sir-Yessir." The enunciated pant came out. One of their brother's passed the designated weight to CT-4926, the faltering clone. No need to check, CC-2224 never needed to. If his brothers slacked in training, if anyone did, they would die, kamino live-fire drills taught them that, it was in their best interests to keep ontop of their training.

CT-4926 lugged his Bergen onto his back, the squad, jogging on the spot, resumed their assigned training lap of the Venator assigned to the batalion. CC-2224 kept watch over the impropmptu gymnasium he created. His _shabla_ company would all have _ramikadyc_ by the time he was finished with them, or at least be able to keep up with said commandos for a while.

He checked his HUD, 9:13:37, he had exactly 46 minutes twenty _two_ seconds now until his General arrived. 45 minutes gave them plenty of time to clear everything away. One minute twenty one seconds, enough time to go through the General's likely inventory, plan drill and shooting displays, and a mental note for caf.

Using his HUD, he messaged every trooper in the – what _was_ the starboard hanger.

"Alright _vode_ , stop there. Everyone clean up, _besbe_ to _tayat_. Weights to starboard gym, showers in staggered. MOVE."

The thunder of three hundred voices rang out.

"SIR, YES SIR!"

The efficiency of military cleaning was something to behold. What had been a gymnasium for three hours fifteen minutes quickly transformed back into the hanger. Thank _fierfek_ the Larties weren't loaded up yet, that could've been a problem.

Orders were passed throughout shipboard comms, to the effect of 'clean up, suit up, if you're not ready by 9:45 in assigned positions, _ba'slanar bah gayiyla nuhaatc'_

It was 9:30, the starboard side of the ship was clear, port side was being cleaned by droids, half an hour before their General was due to arrive via a carrier, and most of the attack squads were getting into order.

CC-2224 moved through the main rooms and hangers, noting where troopers were milling about, in the rough proximity where they would be brought to attention. Finally stopping at the bridge, the commander gave his perfunctory report to CA-9341. Of course, CC-2224 controlled the men in the battalion, but CA-9341 controlled the ship itself, it was necessary for appropriate details to be exchanged.

9:47:42. Just enough time to cross the 500 meters to meet his General at the hanger, and leave approximately 8 minutes to run through mental preparations. CC-2224 arrived at the port hanger at 9:50:02, the rest of the troopers taking this sign to stand in the ready positions at ease. 10 minutes. Easy, troopers were made to hold the at ease position for up to 3 hours if needed.

9:55:37, the general's carrier ship approached. _Five minutes early, should've accounted for that shiny._ That thought was compartmentalised, replaced with appropriate greetings to an officer of higher rank, as the carrier began to move through the energy field and begin descent on the designated landing pad. 9:56:14, the ramp _finally_ began to lower.

Out stepped their Jedi.

"OFFICER ON DECK."

The sound of two thousand five hundred synchronised boots coming to attention echoed in the hanger 2 seconds after the almost singular footfall actually contacted the ground.

"Sir, 212th 5th company attack battalion, at your command, Sir."

 **Authors Note: for you all to know, the 'standard' figure of around 3 million clones in a GAR (an organisation spanning hundreds of worlds with _at least_ trillions upon trillions of lifeforms (consider Earth supports 7 billion people, with large sections (sub Saharan Africa, Australian Outback, Arctic/Antarctica, oceans etc.) uninhabited.) wouldn't be enough to protect the populace.**

 **Consider in Star Wars, having Coruscant, Naboo, Mandalore, these planets are mostly land with bits of water, NOT mostly water with bits of land (i.e. Earth), so if each planet was comfortable with supporting 10 billion people, then add technology etc. with hundreds (thousands maybe?) of planets, you have trillions of people. And with trillions of people, you need MORE than 3 million soldiers as an army. So I'm considering having one 'unit' being 576 troopers (long story, but logical if you see how clones arranged in square formations in AotC), so 3 million units = 1.728 billion soldiers overall, which makes this much more believable, especially up against droids who, as seen in geonosis, can be produced regularly, so trillions or quadrillions of droids are not out of the question.**

 **Also, small references to Warhammer 40k dotted around, simply because a) only galaxy spanning human empire with large enough military that is at war is in 40k, and I see jedi and clones abit like adeptus astartes and imperial guard. Roll with it, trust me, it just makes clone wars a bit better. (those without Warhammer 40k knowledge, don't worry, I've just lifted place names and military numbers from it, that's all).**

 **( _ba'slanar bah gayiyla nuhaatc-_ hide until we can cover for you, but be prepared to get it in your neck once we've finished, lit. 'deploy everywhere invisible')**


End file.
